FELLOW SPEED LOVER ONGAIS TAKES OVER BRAYTON'S POLE-WINNING CAR

He turns 54 Tuesday, and until he ran some practice laps this May, he had not driven around the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1987. His best finish in 10 Indianapolis 500 starts was fourth, which he pulled off way back in 1979, and through most of this decade he has filled his time racing vintage cars and driving test programs for Porsche.

But late Sunday morning, the last day of qualifying for this year's 500, veteran Danny Ongais was assured a spot in the race when he was named to drive the car the late Scott Brayton had qualified for the pole position. "Those are rather large shoes to fill," Ongais said. "But I'll do the best I can."

Because he is a substitute driver, Ongais must start in the 33rd and final spot in the lineup. With Ongais taking over Brayton's car, the pole position automatically goes to rookie Tony Stewart, Brayton's teammate and the second-fastest qualifier on the first day of time trials. It wasn't a promotion Stewart wanted.

"To be honest . . . I don't feel like I deserve to be there," said Stewart, the fastest rookie qualifier in Indy history at 233.100 m.p.h. "Scotty deserves to be there. If he isn't there, nobody should be there."

The field for the race itself was finally filled out late Sunday afternoon when 40-year-old rookie Joe Gosek bumped fellow rookie Billy Boat, and qualified with an average speed of 222.793 m.p.h. to Boat's 221.824. But it will be Ongais, as a substitute driver, who will start from the outside of the last row in the car Brayton had qualified two Saturdays ago at 233.718 m.p.h.

The 37-year-old Brayton, a veteran of 14 500s and a popular figure here, was killed early Friday afternoon when he crashed during a routine practice run in a backup car from the garage of his Team Menard. While the inevitable grieving went on in the wake of this tragedy, practical questions were being considered as well, and the biggest of them was just what team owner John Menard would do with Brayton's true car, the car he had put on the pole.

"It was a very emotional day for us," team manager Larry Curry recalled of Saturday, the day that decision was being made. "But Scotty worked so hard to put the car in the race, this car deserves to be in the Indianapolis 500."

Two-time Indy champ Gordon Johncock, who is 59 and has not driven here since 1992, was one of those Menard considered putting in that car. But Johncock is from Brayton's hometown of Coldwater, Mich., and, said Menard, "We've been very hard on Coldwater. If anything else happened, I didn't think it was a good idea."

Four-time Indy champ Al Unser Sr., who is 56 and has been retired for two years, was another of those considered. "I did talk to Al," Menard admitted. "But Al made it very clear he was retired and wants to stay retired. Al's my hero, I would have had to have considered it seriously (if he had felt differently). But, in fact, Al recommended we use Danny."

So the ride fell to Ongais, who showed up here after an absence of nine years and passed his physical May 7. He had been searching for a quick ride since then, but until Sunday seemed saddled with trying to qualify a 1993 Lola/Menard V6/Goodyear owned by the Brickell Racing Group.

He did turn 65 practice laps in that car, and Saturday managed to push it to a lap of 220.194 m.p.h. This left him in a tenuous state, a four-lap average speed of 220 m.p.h. needed to qualify for this year's field. But Sunday all that doubt was removed when he was handed Brayton's car.

He is, in personality, as taciturn as Brayton was loquacious. But as a driver, explained Curry, "His reputation was `Danny on the gas.' Danny was a fast guy. That was his MO. Scott Brayton lived to go fast, so it's pretty fitting Danny Ongais be in Scott Brayton's race car come race day."

Where he will open on race day, that is the one question remaining now. Ultimately, of course, he will drop back to that last position. But in the wake of Brayton's death, Team Menard is pushing for him to start the day somewhere altogether different. That is why, finally, Curry would say, "I believe a tribute to Scott is (called for).

"Our idea is something in the line that the car start from the front for the parade lap, then comes into the pit for the crew salute, only then go to the end of the field. But I have no idea how it will work out."